Award details

The Mouth - Gut - Brain Model

Reference	BBS/E/F/00042858
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor Peter Wilde
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors
Institution	Quadram Institute Bioscience
Department	Quadram Institute Bioscience Department
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	14,634
Status	Completed
Type	Institute Project
Start date	01/07/2017
End date	31/12/2018
Duration	59 months

Abstract

Obesity and type 2 diabetes are major global health concerns, partly caused by our hedonic and physiological desire to overconsume energy rich foods. A wide range of low calorie products have been developed, however, recent studies suggest that low calorie foods may have unintended effects. If a food looks, and tastes like it is rich in nutrients, the gut and brain systems expect a high energy intake. If this does not happen, the brain appears to increase hunger signals that drive overconsumption at subsequent meals (rebound hunger), thus increasing overall calorie intake. Therefore, we need to rethink how reduced calorie foods can be used more effectively. We need to understand the relationship between how we sense foods, how we digest and absorb the nutrients and how the brain responds to these processes and controls appetite: The Mouth – Gut – Brain Model We aim to understand how the mismatch between sensory properties and nutrient intake of food controls appetite and rebound hunger. We will focus on fat, as fat has the highest energy content, and the sensory properties of low fat foods are challenging for both consumers and the food industry. We will determine how the sensory properties control consumer expectations of “fullness”, and measure how much we can reduce fat content before consumers develop rebound hunger. We will then design a more realistic food where the structure and sensory properties are closely matched, but with a range of fat contents and fat type, to carefully control how much fat is "sensed" and how much is absorbed. We will measure how the appetite response to these foods controls the subsequent consumption of food. Results will help reveal how mouth-gut-brain signalling controls appetite so we can define a broader research programme to investigate the biological mechanisms underpinning the mouth-gut-brain interface. The knowledge will enable development of foods that are more effective at reducing energy intake in the longer term.

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Not funded via Committee
Research Topics	Diet and Health, Neuroscience and Behaviour
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	X - not in an Initiative
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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